There was a rumbling of unsatisfied voices when Tibult stood up.
“He’s some lord from the city.”
“We already have a hero.”
“Look, he even uses animalkin slaves. Must be a lord from the Capital.” A group of animalkin girls seemed especially appalled.
Such words spread throughout the room, but the guy held up his nose and ignored them all.
“Are you a capable dungeon diver?” The guild master asked.
Tibult snorted. “My slaves will be able to conquer this dungeon with ease, I assure you. I’ve spent top coin for them.”
This created even more unsatisfied mumbling. Tibult picked up on the discontent in the room and glared down the people there. Even though the room was filled with tough and scary looking adventurer’s, most of them wouldn’t meet his eyes for long. It spoke volumes to the power nobles had in this city.
“I’m sorry, my lord,” Even the mayor had to bow to this man. “But we recently appointed a hero for the city.”
“What is that? I specifically came out to this village because I was told you were without a hero. No, this won’t do at all. Bring this man out at once!”
Enough people had glanced at me that Tibult picked up on it. “This fat, strangely-dressed child? I knew these country towns were full of yokels, but I never would have thought you’d make someone your hero. How laughable! Sir… I challenge you to a duel. You, against my slave.”
One of the slaves stepped forward, flexing his muscles slightly. My lips twitched a bit. What the hell was this? He wasn’t even going to fight me himself, but use a slave to fight me? Wait, forget that, I didn’t even fight in the first place. Although the angry mutters all around me seemed to be on my side, I didn’t want to get into any further trouble.
“I don’t wish to duel. As long as you complete your own promise to rid the town of the dungeon, you can have the hero position…”
Although the one gold a month would have been lovely, as well as the discounts, I was already on the fence about it. I didn’t think the hero job would disappear after acquiring it, and I also didn’t want to become enemies with a powerful lord from the city.
The man’s face seemed to grow even more furious. “You think I can’t? Hmph! I will defeat this dungeon, and then you will hand me that hero title on your hands and knees! Come, Lydia… bring my things.”
He flourished his cloak as he walked out. The person who he has spoken to was the catgirl who I now realized was carrying the majority of the packs on her small body. The two males with the muscles appeared to be the bodyguards, while she was a packrat. She looked scrawny, dirty, and poorly taken care of. Her eyes held almost no life in them, not meeting anyone in the room, even other catkins.
When they left, the room exploded in an uproar. The guild leader stomped his foot, to once again bring silence to the room. The mayor ended up looking at me as he spoke out loud.
“I’m sorry, young lad. I have heard that young lords will often come to country towns to claim a hero’s title. Our new dungeon must have attracted him. I heard defeating a dungeon earns a lot of bragging rights in the Capital. This guy is a glory seeker.” The mayor sighed. “He likely had watched the whole battle and planned to ride in and save the day at just the right time unless he saw things as hopeless, and then he would have let the city burn and maybe helped the survivors escape. When things didn’t go south for us, this must have been his backup plan.”
“That may be so, but I don’t wish to get entangled with some noble. It would give me much trouble.”
The mayor grimaced and nodded. “I understand. I still feel if it comes between you and this man, a healer such as yourself would be more beneficial than a haughty noble. If it came to who I wanted as our benefactor, I would still pick you.”
“You’re speaking as if the hero title has already been lost.” The guild leader spoke up and patted the mayor’s shoulder. “I do not believe this dungeon is so easy. Two animalkin toughs are not sufficient to clear it. I believe we should send a team behind him. With luck, his attempt will buy us some time to survey the dungeon properly.”
The mayor nodded thoughtfully. “That sounds like a good idea. Whether he fails or succeeds, someone will need to play cleanup. I want an expedition planned to set out tomorrow morning. Secure the entrance, clear out the first few floors, and buy us time to get some legitimate dungeon divers.”
“I do have one request for this mission.” The guild leader sighed. “We will move slow and methodically. I don’t want to risk any lives. With that respect, there is one person here who can exponentially increase the odds of that.”
Both pairs of eyes fell on me.
It looked like I was being conscripted.